The Pain of Touch
by thermostatique
Summary: Bobby can't touch Rogue. How will the relationship survive? Will true love conquer all?
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, though I wish I had the ingenuity to. =D  
  
Summary: Bobby and Rogue, doom to spend their lives together without touching. How will the relationship work?  
  
A/N: This is my first X-men fanfic. Actually, come to think of it, it's probably my first fic, so please review and tell me how well (or badly) I've done. This story comes after X-2 (both the movie AND the book.) ^^ equals flashbacks.  
  
The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the sky was a typical Westchester blue. Inside a huge mansion with a sign that said "Xavier's school for gifted youngsters" however, things were not so calm.  
  
"Kitty! How many times have I told you to watch where you're going?!" Scott Summers shouted, as a black-haired girl ran through him, causing the former to feel a jolt of electricity pass through his body. He gave a quiet sigh, and continued to walk on, his red shades hiding all emotion in his eyes.  
  
From the corner, Rogue stood at a corner, watching as Cyclops shuffled away, his shoulders hunched. She felt a "slightly below body temperature" hand on her shoulder, and she turned with a smile. Bobby Drake, seventeen years old, smiled in return.  
  
"What are you standing here for?" He asked, a amused glint in his sparkling blue eyes.  
  
"Enjoying the scenery," was the coy reply as the couple began their way to the common room.  
  
"Really?" Bobby asked, glancing down at his girlfriend. He gave her a cheeky smile. "What kind of scenery will there be without me?" Rogue rolled her eyes, and she playfully punched her boyfriend in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in mock-pain.  
  
Rogue, however, narrowed her eyes in concern immediately. "Are you OK?" She asked, rubbing his shoulders, as if trying to sooth the pain.  
  
"I'll feel better after a kiss," Bobby joked, a grin on his face. Almost immediately, his smile faded as he surveyed Rogue's reaction. "I was kidding," he hurried to explain. Rogue gave a forced smile.  
  
"I know," she told him, as she walked away from him to join Kitty and Jubilee. Bobby watched her walk, his eyes focused on a distant point, his mind whirring back to a distant memory.  
  
^Bobby kissed Rogue, for the first time, and for that few seconds, he felt bliss he had never known.^  
  
^Bobby kissing Rogue again. Pleasure, so much pleasure, and then . . . pain. So much pain. Incredible pain. He pushed away from Rogue, breathing hard. He looked up at Rogue, and she turned away, not meeting his eyes, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes.^  
  
Bobby took a deep breath, shutting his eyes from the memory. That day had gone from bad to worse, with Ronnie calling the police and John nearly razing his house to the ground. The muscle in his jaw tightened, and his eyes flashed an angry icy-blue as he remembered his former best friend.  
  
"Hey Iceman! Wanna shoot some hoops?" Sixteen year old and nine feet tall Peter called. Bobby snapped out of his trance, and he gave a smile, a semblance of the cheerful, happy-go-lucky Bobby. He nodded, with one last look at his girlfriend, who was laughing with whatever Jubilee was saying, he turned and ran towards the basketball court.  
  
+++  
  
Rogue stepped outside the mansion, breathing the fresh air. She knew that Bobby was at the basketball court; she had heard Peter invite her boyfriend to play about an hour ago. She knew that she had hurt Bobby with her attitude before, and that she owed him an apology. Besides, knowing that Bobby might be upset ruined her day, and although she had masked her own emotions in front of her friends, she couldn't concentrate on whatever she was doing.  
  
She eyed the basketball court for a certain blond haired boy, but those that she found were not Bobby. She called out to Peter. "Hey, have you seen Bobby?"  
  
"Yeah. He left fifteen minutes ago. Headed for the woods," Peter replied in his Russian accent.  
  
Rogue thanked him and headed for the woods. The woods were far enough from the mansion that it was not visible from the woods to the mansion, but still near enough to stay within the boundaries of the school. She saw Bobby sitting on the ground, hunched over something, and she walked over quietly.  
  
"Hey," she said, causing him to jump up in shock. He turned his head, his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Hey yourself," he told her, hurriedly running his hand across the ground. Rogue stepped closer to him and looked over his shoulder. The ground was filled with water, water that was probably ice not too long ago. Rogue sat down next to him.  
  
"What were you doing?" She asked, her head tilting to the puddle of water on the floor. Bobby shrugged, but didn't reply. Rogue studied him for a moment, before letting it go. She knew that if Bobby wanted to tell her, he would. "So, what are you doing here all alone?"  
  
"Needed some quiet," was his succinct reply.  
  
Rogue looked at him uncertainly. "I'm not . . . I'm not disturbing you, am I?" She asked.  
  
Bobby turned his head to her, and shook his head with a smile. "Of course not. I love your company. I just thought you were upset with me because of my joke just now."  
  
Rogue gave a relief sigh. "About that joke, Bobby I -,"  
  
"I'm sorry," Bobby blurted out. He exhaled deeply. "Feel so much better now," he told her with a grin. "Look, I was insensitive, as usual. I'm sorry."  
  
Rogue shook her head. "Bobby, you're never insensitive."  
  
"You're just saying this cos' I'm your boyfriend," Bobby retorted with a playful whine.  
  
"Do you want to get praised or not?" Rogue demanded. Bobby laughed, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively. She leaned her head against his broad chest, breathing in his familiar scent. Bobby gave her a kiss on her hair and wrapped her around him more tightly.  
  
Far away in the distance, Scott, with his perfect eyesight, caught sight of the loving couple and his throat contracted. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for the young couple, and hoped, that they would never have to go through the torture of spending their life without the other.  
  
Like him.  
  
+++  
  
A/N: Well? How was it? Reviews please. And do you think I should continue or just leave the story as it is? Come one, hit that long purple button below that says "Submit Review". You know you want to. =D 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, though I wish I had the ingenuity to. =D  
  
Summary: Bobby and Rogue, doom to spend their lives together without touching. How will the relationship work?  
  
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Thank You Thank You Thank You. It's always good to get my ego boosted for awhile. =D. Seriously, I was really encouraged by the reviews. See what reviews do to people?!  
  
KathrynValmont: I didn't know that I only accepted signed reviews. Thanks for telling me. I've changed it.  
  
Little Pyro: Thank you. Considering how you don't support B/R stories, I'm glad you like mine. Thank you again.  
  
Anyway, you guys probably want the story and not my ceaseless mushy babbling huh? I can take a hint. =D  
  
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The shrill sound of the alarm clock woke Rogue up. She blinked once, then twice, before allowing sleep to reclaim her. "MARIE! Wake up!" Rogue gave a grunt, and turned over, covering her ears with her pillow. Jubilee and Kitty, her two room-mates gave each other a conspicuous wink.  
  
Rogue was just beginning to enjoy her dream. Bobby and her were THIS close to kissing, and dream Rogue yearn for the moment to happen when suddenly Rogue was splashed in the face by a glass of cold water. She yelped in shock, and literally jumped out of bed, her gloved hands on her hips. Ever since the attack on the school, she had been dressed fully, ready to evacuate at the first call. It wasn't just her; Jubilee was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and Kitty had on a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts.  
  
"You guys are SO dead," Rogue emphasized, her eyes narrowing at her friends. Jubilee rolled her eyes and pointed to the alarm clock, that had unfortunately received much of the cold water that was splashed, and was now gurgling instead of ringing.  
  
"You will be dead if you don't get up. Mr Summers' class first period, and you know how grouchy he can get," Jubilee said.  
  
"Yeah," Kitty chirped in. "Especially after Doctor Grey died." There was a silence as the three girls thought of their biology teacher.  
  
"It must be hard on him," Rogue said, ever the sensitive one. She bit her lips as unwanted tears welled up in her eyes. Among the three, she was the closest to Jean. Maybe it was because Bobby was like a mini-Scott and they had that in common, or maybe because Jean, being a telepath, understood what Rogue was going through. Whatever it was, Rogue missed her dearly, and she could only imagine how Scott must feel.  
  
She tried to imagine life without Bobby, and she shivered almost unconsciously. Bobby was everything to her. She lost her family and friends the day she ran away from her home, and she felt that in this big wide world, only Bobby loved her. Sure, she had friends, but Bobby was altogether another kind of love, one she never had experienced, and one she probably would never experience with anyone else.  
  
Speaking of Bobby, Rogue suddenly remembered that she was supposed to meet him for breakfast. She glanced at the slowly dying clock. Breakfast that she was supposed to be HALF AN HOUR ago! She rushed to the toilet, and hurriedly did her daily washing up.  
  
+++  
  
Bobby slouched against the chair, his arm against the dining table supporting his head. He flicked at some droplets of milk (compliments of Kurt, who had apparently never had milk) and they immediately turn to ice. He joined the ice up until it became a small heart, and focusing on the water molecule, he carved the words M and B, all with a flick of his hand.  
  
There was an obvious sound of someone's throat clearing, and Bobby looked up. His sheepish look made Rogue smile as she pulled back the chair next to him and sat in it.  
  
"Waited long?"  
  
Bobby shrugged, shaking his head. "Nah, it was just awhile. People came and went, Kurt took all the milk and Logan ate all the pancakes, but it wasn't that long."  
  
Rogue gave a casual flip of her hand, and stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend.  
  
"Oh, I love it when you stick out you tongue after being late. It's such a great compensation," Bobby quipped sarcastically. He gave her a grin, his blue eyes twinkling, He fitted his hand into her small, gloved one. "You overslept again, didn't you?"  
  
"Just a little," Rogue allowed. "It's all the stupid alarm clock's fault. If it hadn't make so much noise, I wouldn't be all defiant and purposely not wake up, and I wouldn't start to sleep again, and I wouldn't be late for our date."  
  
"Uh-huh," Bobby said, nodding in mock-sympathy. He gave a laugh as his girlfriend stuck out her tongue at him again. They were acting like kids, but Bobby didn't mind. After all the things that happened, he WISHED he was just a kid.  
  
"We should get going. We wouldn't Mr Summers to get upset again, will we?" Rogue said, referring to the time when she and Bobby were late because they were too busy talking and forgot about the time.  
  
Bobby stood up with her. "Not that he would notice," Bobby said, a little on the bitter side. "After Dr Grey's death, he seemed to have lost all drive."  
  
"That's understandable," Rogue said, as they made their way to class.  
  
"I guess." Bobby suddenly stopped in his tracks and Rogue stopped too, looking up at him questioningly. He put his hands on either side of her shoulders and stared at her intensely, his blue eyes unreadable. "You won't do that to me, will you?"  
  
"Do what?" By now, Rogue was very confused.  
  
Bobby studied her, but did not speak. Finally, he replied. "Leave me." He gripped her shoulders harder, so hard that Rogue felt pain. "You won't leave me, will you?"  
  
"Bobby," Rogue protested, struggling out of his death-grip.  
  
Bobby didn't seem to notice. He looked into her eyes, and whispered. "You won't leave me, right? My family left me, my best friend left me. You won't do the same. You won't. Right?"  
  
Rogue stopped struggling as she saw the haunted look in his eyes. Although she knew that Bobby was hurt about the situation with his parents and John, she never knew that the hurt was so deep. Bobby never showed this side of him to her. Even after the event at Alkali Lake, he continued to be the cheerful Bobby that she knew, and so she figured that he just took things in stride. Looking at him, she felt guilty that she never bothered to actually find out how he felt.  
  
"Bobby. I'll never leave you. You know that. Never," Rogue affirmed, giving him a smile. "Come on, we'll be late," she said, reaching for his hand on her shoulder. She tugged on it, and glanced at him. Bobby looked down at her, and then he smiled, a smile that lit up his handsome face.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
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A/N: By now you should already guess that I'm also a GREAT Scott/Jean fan, so pardon me. =D. Please oh please review.. Click that button below! Click it!!! =D 


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